The other day I listened to a discussion where the participants talked about the moments that changed the trajectory of their lives. Some were personal, most were work related. Mine would definitely be work related, although it totally changed my life both personally and professionally.
Yesterday was the 44th anniversary of when I started work at what was then Birmingham Trust National Bank. At the first of December of that winter, I had gone to downtown Birmingham and walked from bank to bank putting in my applications. I had just dropped out of college (again) although I was almost three years in and decided that I had enjoyed working at a bank for a year the last time I had quit school, so I should try it again. Although I put my application in at every bank I could get to, several weeks later only BTNB had contacted me for an interview.
I had a good interview downtown and was sent to the Mountain Brook office for an interview there. Living with my parents at the time, I was within walking distance of that branch so it seemed the perfect fit. It was decided that after the holidays, I would begin my training.
On Monday, January 8, 1979 I began training at the downtown office. When I had worked at a smaller bank a couple of years before, on the first day they had sent me to the branch in West Homewood, showed me the process and by that afternoon I was working a window by myself. BTNB was a bigger, more structured company so for two weeks I was over-trained in banking before heading out to the Mountain Brook branch.
During those two weeks, another girl about my age also began training to be a “utility” teller, filling in where needed for sick days and vacations. She really didn’t want to do that but had been hired a few days after I was and that is what was available.
As it turns out , this girl was from an influential family and she didn’t want to be a substitute teller. The bank decided to give her the Mountain Brook position and I was asked if I would consider either being a sub or working at the Homewood branch. The Homewood office was growing and they had been considering adding a teller position, so this seemed the time to make that move.
I knew that my personality would not do well being in a new spot every day, so I opted for Homewood. It wasn’t as close to home as Mountain Brook, but still convenient to where I lived. After an interview with the branch manager at Homewood, I finished my training and began work at that branch on the 22nd.
Little did I know that during that spring, a guy was finishing college at the University of Alabama with the plan to work at his Dad’s company, across the street from the Homewood branch of BTNB. Once he graduated, one of his tasks was to take the bank deposits across the street occasionally.
For the next 4 years, I became friends with this guy, chatting with him whenever he came over with the deposits and other banking business. I got to know his father, who sometimes brought deposits or came by for other banking business. His mom was also a customer and came by the drive thru window often.
BTNB became SouthTrust Bank, and Tim (the guy who finished school and went to work across the street) became more than a friend. Without that call from BTNB asking me to come in for an interview, without the rich girl getting the Mountain Brook job, without the Homewood manager deciding they needed to grow their staff size and without me knowing myself well enough to know I needed to be in the same place everyday, I would not have had all of that time to really get to know Tim- I probably wouldn’t have met him at all!
Tim and I talked about miracles yesterday at Sunday lunch- it’s the subject of the new sermon series at church. We talked about how people think miracles have to be something big and surprising, but that miracles happen all day everyday. Most of the time they are small. Often times we don’t even realize they are miracles until later on down the road.
I can not imagine where I would be if everything hadn’t happened the way it did. Life certainly would be different and I can’t imagine it would be as good. Tim has made life an adventure, fun and full. He took me to church, something I hadn’t done before meeting him and might not have done without him. Without him, Jon wouldn’t exist and without Jon life wouldn’t have been as exciting. Without Jon I wouldn’t have most of my friends who were his teachers and the parent’s of his friends.
It is interesting to think about those moments that changed our lives and how so many things had to go a certain way to bring us to where we are. The choices we make every moment turn us in a certain direction and affect those around us. You never know when something you do or a decision you make will change your life or the life of others. You never know where the steps you take today will take you tomorrow, or next week, or next year.
On Christmas, our minister mentioned that it would be 11 years before we had Christmas and New Year’s on Sunday again. It almost did me in to think where we would all be in 11 years- who we might lose, who would be born, what will have happened to the church, to the country, to the world. It is overwhelming to imagine what choices we are making this minute that will change things over the next 11 years, what other people will do that will change our trajectory, what things will happen that are beyond our control but ultimately change everything.
I am glad I can’t see into the future. I think going day by day, minute by minute, choice by choice is all I can handle!
